When Antonio decided to become a priest, he did not have any knowledge about other denominations. Most young men of his generation did not even know about Presbyterians, Methodists, Anglicans, Evangelical, and many others like the First, Second and Third Baptists, really? He knew about the “Canutos” or people who testified on the corners how they were sinners, and how they had been pardoned. However, most people made fun of them calling them “without shame”.

He remembered well when he was still accompanying his grandmother on the truck with the chickens, hearing a woman proclaiming very loud: “I was a prostitute, but Jesus found me and pardoned my sins! Now I do not sin anymore because He saved me! Come and meet Jesus Christ, he will save you too.” He promptly looked through one of the holes his grandmother had made in the walls of the truck to see what was going on in the streets. He saw a woman dressed in a two pieces blue suit and a white blouse buttoned up to her neck with a megaphone. Many men surrounded her, but women were crossing to the other side of the street when they saw her.

The name “Canuto” comes from Juan Bautista Canut de Bon. An ex-Jesuit priest that became a believer when he came to Chile in 1876. He was a belligerent preacher that vehemently spoke on the streets against Catholicism. Eventually he married, had five children, and became a Methodist pastor.

Now that Antonio had been reflecting on what the command of Jesus to His apostles before He left this world, he was sure that the “Canutos” were not doing anything wrong. They were doing what Jesus had told his disciples in Matthew 28:18-20. “¹⁸Jesus came up and said to them, ‘All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to Me. ¹⁹ Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations [help the people to learn of Me, believe in Me, and obey My words], baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, ²⁰ teaching them to observe everything that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always [remaining with you perpetually—regardless of circumstance, and on every occasion], even to the end of the age.’ ” (“Bible Gateway Passage: Matthew 28:18-20 – Amplified Bible” 2019)

What was he doing? He has been helping the people in the community with his handyman services, but he realized that deep down he was thinking “Hope this count for me as a good deed when I go to Heaven.” He started to understand that we are not going to be judged by the things we do when we do them expecting to be counted as merits. He realized that what was going to be judged were his inner thoughts and the way he would show them in words and deeds.

Antonio was amazed when he read Proverbs 18:21 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it and indulge it will eat its fruit and bear the consequences of their words.” (“Proverbs 18:21 – Amplified Bible” 2019)
Then Matthew 12:36-37 “And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” (“Bible Gateway Passage: Matthew 12:36-37 – New Living Translation” 2019)

If he wanted to take this seriously as a command from God directly for the Scriptures inspired by the Holy Spirit to the men that wrote them, both under the Old and the New Testament, he needed to control what he was thinking and control what he was saying. But how to do it?

He could not stop imagining a girl naked when he saw one he liked. Or how will he stop thinking about how a tall fat woman and a very small man can make love. He also had a profoundly serious problem trying to stop another person when they started gossiping.

Gossiping was openly against the proverbs: “The tongue can bring death or life; those who love to talk will reap the consequences.” (“Proverbs 18:21 NLT – – Bible Gateway,” n.d.).
“Watch your tongue and keep your mouth shut, and you will stay out of trouble.” (“Proverbs 21:23 NLT – – Bible Gateway,” n.d.)

And what about cursing? Every time he would smash one of his fingers with a hammer, he would say a bad word. How could he stop that?
“…Whatever is in your heart determines what you say.”  (“Matthew 12:34 – NLT- -Bible Gateway,” n.d.)
“Do not use foul or abusive language. Let everything you say be good and helpful, so that your words will be an encouragement to those who hear them.”  (“Ephesians 4:29 NLT – – Bible Gateway,” n.d.)

What about speaking wrongly about the “Canutos” preaching on the streets? What about speaking against the orders coming from his superiors about budget and ways to do things at the Church?
“Kind words are like honey—sweet to the soul and healthy for the body.” (“Proverbs 16:24 NLT – – Bible Gateway,” n.d.)
“And I tell you this, you must give an account on judgment day for every idle word you speak. The words you say will either acquit you or condemn you.” (“Bible Gateway Passage: Matthew 12:36-37 – New Living Translation” 2019)

He remembered the times that he had prayed about something he needed, or something he wanted, or about the health of somebody at the same time doubting that God would even hear his prayers. He would also pray and end his prayer with “If it is God’s will”. He knew that the intention of that ending was to give an excuse in case what he was praying about did not happen.

“I tell you the truth, you can say to this mountain, ‘May you be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ and it will happen. But you must really believe it will happen and have no doubt in your heart.” (“Mark 11:23 – New Living Translation” 2019)

In summary, Antonio was in front of a list of thoughts and actions he really felt bad about. And worse, he knew everybody did the same.

He then made a decision. He was going to say a prayer, or at least, say the word “Jesus,” every time he thought or said something against those ‘sound advice’ verses in the Bible, the Word of God. He would take it one step at a time. He decided to follow instructions like he would follow a guide with a flashlight in the middle of a path on a very dark night. That guide was Jesus.

It was interesting, and surprising, not only to the people in town or even Luis, the other priest, to see Antonio walking around, or while doing some shores, saying: “Jesus, Jesus, Jesus.”